Conventionally available is a technology that displays a stereoscopic image to a user using special equipment such as a pair of stereoscopic glasses, by displaying two parallax images captured from two viewpoints on a monitor. In addition, recently available is a technology for displaying a stereoscopic image to a user with naked eyes, by displaying multiple-parallax images (e.g., nine parallax images) captured from a plurality of viewpoints on a monitor, using a light ray controller such as a lenticular lens.
At the same time, some medical image diagnostic apparatuses such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) apparatuses, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses, and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses are capable of generating three-dimensional medical image data (hereinafter, volume data). Such a medical image diagnostic apparatus also generates a two-dimensional image to be displayed by applying various imaging processes to the volume data, and displays the two-dimensional image on a general-purpose monitor. For example, such a medical image diagnostic apparatus generates a two-dimensional image of a cross-sectional surface of a subject reflected with the three-dimensional information by executing a volume rendering process to the volume data, and displays the two-dimensional image thus generated on a general-purpose monitor.